The present invention relates to the construction of the roof of a building.
The construction of roofs is typically performed directly on-site calling upon the services of various skilled labour at different times during construction of the building.
The simplest solution for a conventional pitched roof involves construction of the roof by means of the successive deposition of different layers: a supporting structure formed by the main beams or framework, a layer which acts as a mechanical structure (normally made of wood), a visible layer facing the inside of the building, for example made of wood (panelling) with an aesthetic value, an environmental insulation layer, and an outer layer for providing protection against atmospheric agents which is supported on the insulation layer by a batten arrangement. Typically, the insulation layer is protected from the moisture transmitted from inside the building by means of a vapour barrier and from the moisture from the external environment by means of a breathable sheath.
This solution, although effective from a technical point of view, has drawbacks associated with the high costs for coordination and execution of the activities and the high dependency on weather conditions during the construction work; it also poses major risks for the persons working on-site since most of the construction work involves operations performed directly on the roof.
Moreover, a conventional pitched roof is characterized by the fact that the potential of the roof is not fully exploited. The roof of a building in fact usually performs the sole function of providing protection against atmospheric agents. It is well known, however, to install service systems on the roof of a building, for example telecommunications antennae, and increasingly more frequently the free surfaces of roofs are used for installing solar or photovoltaic panels for the production of hot water and electric energy. These systems and other devices which are able to make use of the surface of the roof in order to perform a function other than a protective function (for example, perimetral alarm systems, windows or similar light openings, ventilation systems) are installed by means of operations which are performed after construction of the roof at different moments in time and with significant additional costs, these costs being due mainly to the fact that the conventional method for construction of the roof does not envisage the use of such systems already during the design phase and the fact that large-area installations must be removed in the event of renovation of the underlying roofing.
In addition to these problems of a general nature, the various functions added to the roof of the building are subject to particular requirements and specific limitations. For example, in the areas underneath the roof (which may also be living areas, such as an attic), often it is not easy to provide efficient and uniform artificial lighting. In fact, since it is not possible to reach every desired lighting point by laying conductors inside masonry walls, either a lighting system with a simple layout is provided, this usually running along the support beam and resulting in lighting of the premises which is not uniformly distributed, or a distributed lighting system is provided (for example using spot lamps), where, however, in order to avoid the unattractive effect of visible electric cables, the latter must be laid above the visible aesthetic finish of the ceiling, with obvious difficulties and the need for subsequent work on the roof.